Switzerland has joined Germany as the second country in Europe to completely phase out nuclear power as an energy source. Switzerland will be shutting down their nuclear power facilities.

In the wake of the horrors of Fukushima, Japan is also committing to rely on alternative energy sources. Prime minister Kan has plans to require all new buildings in Japan to have solar panels by 2030. Japan’s richest man, Masayoshi Son, CEO of telecom company Softbank, has plans to build 10 large solar plants in an effort for Japan to rely on solar, wind, and geothermal energy.

It is time for the United States to commit similar efforts to build alternative energy sources. Nuclear facilities in the US are susceptible to the same dangers as the Fukushima reactors. Spent fuel rod pools at US power plants are especially precarious. An accident at any one of them could trigger a radiation leak and chain reaction comparable to the disaster in Japan. Nuclear reactors are dangerous and outmoded and disasters waiting to happen. Let’s learn from the terrible meltdowns that have occurred at the Fukushima nuclear plant and push to depend on renewable and safe forms of energy.